Mail-marking machine.



No. 891,195. PATENTED JUNE 16, 1908. T. G. STODDARD & G. H. BARBOUR.

MAIL MARKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY17, 1905.

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NI f? W jgfi'arizgy No. 891,195. PATENTED JUNE 16, 1908. T. G. STODDARD & G. H. BARBOUR.

MAIL MARKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 17, 1905.

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PATENTED JUNE 16, 1908.

' T. G. STODDARD & G. H. BARBOUR.

MAIL MARKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 17, 1906.

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PATENTED JUNE 16, 1908. T. G. STODDAED & G H. BARBOUR.

MAIL MARKING MACHINEu APPLICATION FILED MAY 17, 1905.

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. 9 W i w UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS G. STODDARD AND GEORGE H. BARBOUR', OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO THEAMERICAN POSTAL MACHINES COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A COR- PORATION 0F MAINE.

MAIL-MARKING MACHINE.

Patented June 16, 1908.

Application filed May 17, 1905. Serial No. 260,863.

To all whom it may concern:

"Be it known that we, THOMAS G. SroD- DARD and GEORGE H. BARBOUR, citizens of the United States, and residents of Boston, county of Suffolk, Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Marking Machines, of which the foldevices and which is welladapted for manual operation and may therefore be employed with special advantage in thoseollices where the usual power driven machines cannot be used with economy.

. In producing a hand machine of this character we have employed printing mechanism and devices for timing the feed of the letters to the marking dies having the general construction and mode of operation of the'cor responding -devices embodied in .certain power machines which have been in practical operation in the larger 0st offices of the country for a number -0 years. We have combined with these printing and timing devices certain novel forms of feeding and sepa rating'devices which are of special importance and advantage in adapting the machine for convenient and successful-o eration by hand but which may be embodie with advantage in other types of machines. I

The various features of the invention will beset forth in the appended claims andwill be understood from the following detailed descri tion of the machine in which we have embo ied them and which is shown in the accom anying drawings.

. In t ese drawings-Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine; Fig. 2 is a front elevation looking toward the right in Fig. 1; Fig. 3-is a detail plan view showing the action of the separating fingers; Fig. 4 is an enlarged deand 8. art ofthe devices for timing' the let-- tail plan view showing the marking roller ters; ig. 5 is an elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is-a detail plan view similar to Fig.1 4,sh0wing the parts in a diflerent position and also showing some. additional arts; 'andFig. 7 is adetail of the feeding :1! i I In the machine shown in the drawings the letters are supported upon edge on a table or plate A while being presented to the feeding and separating devices and during the action of said devices and of the printing, forward' ing and stacking devices. 'The pack of letters to be operated upon are placed by the o erator upon the front portion A of the p ate A with the front end of the pack against a front plate A and with the back of the outer letter against a. side plate A3. While held in this position the letters are acted upon by" feedlng and separating de vices which separate individual letters from the outer face of the pack and advance them in succession into position to be presented to the marking dies.

The feeding devices consist of a series of small frictional feeding pads B projecting beyond the periphery or treadof a feed wheel B, which is so arranged that its tread projects through the plate A and travels against the outer. face of the letter pack in a direction substantially lengthwise of the letters. The feeding. pads, which are preferably formed of rubber, are so arranged that the space intervening between successive pads is somewhat greater than the length of the longest letter tobe acted upon so that any letter which may be-fed forward by a feeding pad may be marked and delivered from the action of the printing devices before the succeeding pad acts upon the letter pack. a

In operating the machine the operator presses the pack of letters lightly against the tread of the feed wheel B with one hand while turning the feed wheel with the other, the wheel being provided with a handle B to be grasped by the hand of the operator. The tread of the wheel is smooth or polished so as to present an anti-friction surface which slips freely along the surface of the outer letter until a feeding pad is brought into engagement with the letter pack. When this occurs the shoulder B at the front end of the pad acts to apply an efficient frictional grip to the outer surface of the letter so that the outer letter is started forward and advanced by the continued engagement of the ad with its surface. The advance ofthe etter by the action of the pad continues until the movement of the letter is arrested or until the pad has advanced so far beyond 40 forward past the last separating finger C by pack that the frictional grip of'the'padfupon the letter is no longer effective.

In order to prevent the advance of more than one letter at a time and thus insure the separation of the individual letters from the pack; we have provided a separating device arranged to act upon the end of the pack andcooperating with the feeding pads in effect- -ing thc'separation and feed of the letters.

cessively slightly This device consists of a series of resilient separating fingers C, C, C projecting sucincreasing distances into' and across the letter path. We have found that by'employing three independent resilient fingers thus arran ed step-like across the outer end of, the etter pack, an efficient separation of individual letters from the face of the pack may be effected. It will be understood however, .that the number of the edge of the wheel and away from the other letters in the pack as indicated in Fi 3. When the le'tterpack is engaged by one of the feed pads B the pack is forced laterally in a direction away from the tread of thewheel '1' so I end of the letter 1n ease the letter has not B and as it is thus moved the separating fingers by reason of their step-like arrangement act to fan out the inner end of the letter pack and thus loosen and sepa'ratethe' advance ends of the letters at this point. This action materially assists in the effective separation of the outer letter as it is carried the action of thefeeding pad.

The rinting devices towhich the individual lhtters separated from the packvare presented, consists of a marking roll D carrying the marking. dies and a coo crating impression roll E. .The marking r0 1 is continuously rotated and a timin stop is provided to arrest the letters unti the marking dies have'come into proper relation with the been advanced by the feeding pad in proper I time with relation to the rotation of the marking die. This timing stop consists of twoarms F, F arranged aboveand below the feed wheel B andforming one side of a feed throat through whichthe letters pass from the letter pack to the printing devices.

The other side of the feed throat is formed by the tread of the feed Wheel B. The upper arm Fof the feed stop projects over the rim of thel feed' wheel B while the lower arm- F I projeets into a recess formed in an arm Gr arra ed below the feed'wheel and cooperating with devices to be'heremafterdescnbed in controlling the movement of the impres- S1011 roll; toward the marking roll.

When a letter is arrested by the timing stop\ it remains in position with its front end against the stop until acted upon by a clamp. mg foot H carried by the marking roll and arranged to cooperate with one v of a series of pressure pads I projecting slightly beyond the tread of the feed wheel B and arranged directly in advanee -of the feeding pads B. The clamping foot H is pivoted on the mark ing roll and is yieldingly held in normal position with its active face projecting somewhat beyond the periphery of the marking roll by means of a spring H which holds the rear. end of the arm on which the foot is formed against a stop pin H timing stop when the clamping foot H comes into position to engage the cooperating pad I, the leading end of the letter is clamped between the foot and pad and is carried past the timing stop and between the die on themarking roll and the impression roll, the clamp and pad being so arranged that they will feed the letter in proper time for the marking dies to act upon the leading end of the letter.

If there is a letter against the The arms F, F on which the timing stop is formed are secured upon a shaft F and the arms are held yieldingly innormal position by means .of a spring F connected with the end of an arm F on the lower end of the shaft and acting to hold said arm against a stoppin F. When the clam )ing foot and cooperating pad act upon the letter, the timing stop is forced backward a ainst, the tension .ofthe spring F to allow the letter to pass the stop and the stop is returned to normal position by the spring after the letter has passed.

- 1 In order to prevent any improper yielding of the timing stop when a'letter is brought against it by a feeding pad, which would result in a feeding of the letter to the marking roll in improper relation to the printing dies, I

we have provided means for locking the timing stopin position until the clamping foot H is about to engage the end of the letter and carry it past the stop. This locking means consists of a locking surface F on the lower arm F of the timing stop and formed eoncen trio with the marking roll. This concentric locking surface cooperates with a shoulder formed by the end of a screw F carried by the marking roll and arranged to ride against the locking surface F as the marking roll rotates. The )arts are so timed. that the end of the'screw 7 passes on to the surface F at about the time a feeding pad engages the letter ack and remains in engagement with or bac of the locking surface until the clampingfoot'H is in osition to engage the end of the letter which is fed against the timing stop by the feeding pad. 7 g In order that the dies'of the marking roll may not engage the impression roll and apply ink thereto, in case there is no letter in pbsition to be fed to the printing devices when the printlng dle is brought to the printing point, the impression roll is mounted in a frame E whiclris moved toward and away from the marking roll at each rotation of the marking roll and a stop 'I is provided for arresting the forward movement of the frame. The stop I is connected to the shaft I which ,carries the arm G before referred to, and the sto is held normally in position to prevent the-forward movement of the frame E bv means of a spring I which holds the stop against a stop as it is'a'dvanced against the timing stop..

The clamping foot H carries an extension I'l arranged to pass below the arm F of the timfoot H.

' extension H of the clamping foot that it exing stop and the arm G in case there is no letter in position against the timing stop. In case there is a letter against the timing stop when the clamping foot engages the pad I, the letter is carried laterally, by the clamping foot and its extension ll, against the arm G, thus swinging the arm into the position indicated in Fig. 6 and moving the stop I out of operative position. Now when the impression roller carrying frame E is moved forward, its movement is not arrested by the stop and therefore continues until the roll E is brought into position to press the letter against the marking dies. After the dies have passed the printing point the frame E"is moved backward, and the stop I and arm G returned to normal position by the spring 1 I i The timing stop is arranged in close m: imity to' the rinting point and there is t ere fore but litt e s ace in the feed throat between the perip ier of the markin roller and the eriphery o the feed wheel B The arm-G tlierefore can project but slightly beyond the lane of movement of the ressure pads Iiw ich determine the latera move-' ment given to the letter by the clamping We prefer therefore to so form the tends somewhat beyond the surface of the clamping foot roper-and will thus bend the letter laterally elow the pressure pads I and move the arm. G to a greater degree than it would be otherwise moved. Thlsconstruction of the clamping foot and extension is of advanta e in enabling thetiming stop to be arranger close to the printing point, that is to say close to the point where the die is pressed against the surface of the letter.

After the leading end of the letter has passedbetween the printing'die and impression roll, it. passes under a pressure roll J which forces it against the tread of the feed wheel B whereby it is advanced. and forwarded into position to be acted npon by a rotary stacking arm K of common construction. The pressure roll J is mounted in a pivoted arm J and is held yieldingly against the tread 'of the feed wheel by means of a coiled spring J The impression roller frame E is moved toward the marking roll at each rotation of the marking roll by means of a cam E secured to a shaft E and arranged to act upon the end of a lever E which is connected'with the frame E by a link E". The lever E is made in two sections which are connected by a heavy s ring' E The spring tends .to maintain t e stops E, which are carried by the sections of the lever, in engagement with each other so that both sections of the lever will move'in unison and form in effect a rigid lever. The lever is held in engagement with the cam through the action of a spring E which is connected to the impres- -ter when engaged by the clamping foot H.

The parts are so timed that the high-part of the cam E acts u on the lever E to move the impression rol frame toward the marking rol immediately after the clampin foot has reached the position to act upon a l etter. If the stopI has been removed from thepathof the abutment E then. the cam E will act to move the impression roll frame toward the marking roll sufficiently to-press the impression roll against the letter, the spring E yielding according to the thickness of the letter being operated. upon. If there is no letter present when the'clamping foot and marking die come into active osition, then. the sto I remains in the path of-the-abutment E and arrests the inward movement of theim session roll frame before the impres' sion roll has been moved sufficiently to be engaged by the die on the marking roll, the

spring E yielding to allow the movement ofi t at section of the lever E which is engaged by the cam E The marking roll is driven so that the mark.- ing die has the same peripheral s eed as the peripheral speed of the feed wiieel B by means of gearing B connecting. the feed wheel shaft with the marking roller shaft, and the cam shaftE is driven 1n roper timev with the marking roll by gearing connectingthe cam shaft and marking roll shaft.

The rubber feeding pads B and the res--- sure pads I which are preferabl 'made ram leather, may be secured in the cod wheel B in any desired manner. We prefer however, for the sake of simplicity and economy in construction and convenience 1n assembling I side to side of a block M. This pad carrying block is sha ed to fit within a recess formed in the perip cry of the wheel B and when in 1 position the outer'face of the block forms a continuation or part of the peri hery of the wheel. The back of the block 1s preferably curved in the form of a segment so that the recess within which the block fits-may be conhole in the w ee veniently and cheaply cut by a circular cutter.

The block is positioned and retained against long tudinal movement in the recess by a pin 0 position by a locking inN. The holes for the in N v are preferab y arranged atone side of t e center line of the block so that the r0 er ositioning of the block is insured.

' it tIlS GOIIStIUOtlOII the pads maybe readily'removed from or inserted into' the recesses in the pad carrying block by sli ping them laterally out. of or into the un ercut recesses when the block is removed from the wheel B, and when the block is in position within the recess in the wheel the pads will be locked within the dovetail recess between the sides of the recessin the wheel.

While we prefer the specific construction and arrangement of the parts .and mechanisms whic is shown in the drawings and which has been described in detail, it will be understood that various changes and modifications' may be made without departing from our invention. For instance, while it is desirable to provide a plate A for convenien ce in locating and maintaining the pack in proper position against the periphery of the feed wheel, this plate may beom'itted if desired and the pack be maintained inproper position against the feed wheel by the pressure of. the operators hand. On the other hand when a plate A? is employed it may ifdesired, be so arranged that it is-sub-v stantially flush with or just outside of the v periphery of the feed wheel so that the feeding pads pass through the plate and act v pressure pad' traveling therewith, It stop against the surface of the letters. Other 0 anges in arrangement orchanges in. theform or construction of various parts, may be made in embodying the various features of invention referred to in the claims, in machines which do not'embody all the features of improvement comprised within our.in-. VGIliZlOIl. A

Without .;attempting to set forth in detail the various forms and constructions in which f our invention may be embodied, what we desire to claim is' 1 1. A man marking machine havlng in combination a traveling friction feedingpad, a

ro lecting into a corresponding B, and 1s securely locked in against which letters are fed by the feeding ad,-a rotary marking die, and a clamping foot cooperating with thepressure pad to feed the letters past the stop and to the die. 2..A mail marking machine having in combination, a feed wheel provided with a series of friction feeding pads projecting beyond its periphery, a pressure pad in advance of each feeding pad, a. stop against which letters are fed by the feeding pads, a rotary marking die, and a. clamping foot moving with the die and cooperating with the pressure pads to feed the letters past the stop and to the die.

3. A mail marking machine having in combination a series of traveling friction feeding pads, a pressure pad in advance of'each feeding pad, a stop against which letters are fed 'by' the feeding pads, and a traveling clamping foot cooperating with the pressure pads to carry the letters past the stop.

4. A mail marking machine having in combination a traveling friction feeding pad, a l pressure pad moving with the feeding pad, a

stop'against which letters are advanced by.

the feeding pad, anda traveling clamping foot cooperating with the pressure pad to carry the letters past the stop.

5. A mail marking machine comprising in its construction a feed wheel having an anti- I friction tread against which the face of the 'letterpack may be pressed, and formin oneside of a throat through which the letters are .fed, a series of friction feeding pads projecting beyond the periphery of the wheel and arranged more than a letter length a art, and a device inclined-inthe direction 0 the feed of the pack arranged o posite the engaging surface of thewheel to orm the other, side of the feed throat whereby the forward end of the letter pack is fanned against the inclined side of the feed throat by the lateral-movement imparted to it-by the feeding pads.

6. A mail marking machine having in combination, a feed wheel having. an antifriction tread, a-series of friction feeding pads proj ecting beyond the tread of the wheel, a feed ing throat through. which the letters of a pack pressed against the wheel are fed by the pads,. and a separating device extending diagonally across the throat.

- 7.'A mail marking machine having in com-.

bination a series of traveling frictionfeedin pads, a timing stop to which lettersare-fe by the feeding ads, a traveling clamping foot for feedinglbtters past the stop, and a series of pressure pads cooperating with. the

' clamping foot and arranged in advance of the feeding pads.

8. A mail marking machine havingin comi bination, a feed wheel having an antifrictlon I tread'against which a letter pack may be ressed, a series of friction feeding pads pro Jecting beyond the tread of the wheel, a series of pressure pads in advance of the feeding pads, and a traveling clamping foot cooperating with the pressure pads to feed letters advanced by the feeding pads.

9. A mail marking machine having in combination a rotary marking die, 'a' timing stop provided with a locking surface concentric with the aXis of the die, and a cooperating shoulder moving with the die.

10. A mail marking machine having in combination, a rotary marking die, a timing stop, feeding devices for advancing letters against the stop, and a locking device moving with the marking die for locking the stop during the action of the feeding devices.

11. A mail marking machine having in combination, a rotary marking die, intermittently acting feeding'devices, a timing stop, and devices for locking the stop during the action of the feeding devices.

12. A mail marking machine having in combination, a rotary marking die, a traveling friction feeding pad, a stop against which the letters are fed by the pad, devices for locking the stop during the action of the pad, and a clamping foot for feeding the letters past the stop when released.

13. A mail marking machine having in combination, a rotary marking roll, an impression roll, devices for moving the impression roll towards and away from the marking roll, a timing stop arranged adjacent to the printing point, a feed wheel carrying a feeding pad projecting from its periphery, an

arm for controlling the forward movement of the impression roll arranged at one side of the letter path, a clamping foot moving with .the marking die and provided with an extension arranged to pass below the controlling iirm and extending beyond the face of the oot.

14. A mail marking machine having in combination, a rotary marking roll, a reciprocating impression roll, a timing stop, feeding devices, an arm at one side of the letter path for controlling the forward movement of the impression roll, and a clamping foot provided with an extension arranged to pass elow the arm and projecting beyond the face of the foot.

15. A mail marking machine having in combination, a feed wheel arranged to form one side of a feed throat, feedingpads projecting beyond the periphery of the wheel, a timingstop forming the other side of the feed throat, a rotary marking die, and means for feeding the letters past the stop.

16. A mail marking machine having in combination, a feed Wheel arranged to form one side of a feed throat, a'timing stop forming the other side of-the throat, feeding pads on the wheel, and a separating device extending across the feed throat.

17. A mail marking machine having in combination, a feed wheel forming one side of a feed throat, a friction feeding device traveling with the wheel, and a series of resilient separating fingers extending towards the feed wheel the last of which projects beyond the periphery of the wheel.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands, this 29th day of April, 1905.

. THOMAS G. STODDARD.

GEORGE H. BARBOUR. In the presence of- IRA L. FIsH, KATHARINE A. DUGAN. 

